A : The Christmas Party

‘Reading ‘A’‘ is a six hour live artwork examining the relationship between dementia patients and professional carers. The work critically examines the purpose and practice of therapeutic activities for people with dementia; ethical issues involved in creative research; and the representation of people with dementia in artworks. The work also frames existential problems, questioning whether, even with the best will, care or communication and empathy is always possible.

‘Reading ‘A’’ uses my original playscript, ‘A: The Christmas Party’ made in 2005 in residency with Age Concern (led by respected dementia specialist David Clegg, Trebus Project). The script records, verbatim, six home visits to ‘A’, a woman ill with dementia. While the artist (me) tries to involve ‘A’ in art activities, she speaks using fragments of rhyme, a remarkable strategy to overcome the disruption of language by illness.

The playscript became the basis of a collaboration with Terry O’Connor (Forced Entertainment) in 2008 and 2011. Professional performers read the entire text live (2011), and also for radio broadcast (2008). Now ‘Reading ‘A’’ represents a complete re-working and re-examination of the original script.

Instead of focusing on the impact of the performance on the audience, the new work examines the impact of the text on the readers. Five care specialists are invited to read the entire 6 hours of script, without rehearsal, publicly. This processes focuses on the attempt to experience rather than depict or represent.